COVID-19 Cases, Deaths Improving in Lebanon, Abiad Says

Director of the Rafik Hariri International Hospital, Firass Abiad on Wednesday said the Covid-19 indicators in Lebanon are improving with a decline in the number of cases and deaths.

The “daily number of new cases, test positivity rate, hospitalizations, and deaths” are indicators of an improvement, said Abiad on Twitter.

The restrictions enforced early this year have surely helped in the falling numbers, he added.

“Several local studies estimate that 40% of the populace have already been infected. Adding those vaccinated, around 45% of the population may be immune. This is still far from the required threshold to attain herd immunity, though it can help decrease community spread,” added Abiad.

Raising vigilance about new variants and the need for people to continue taking precautions, he said: “It is important to note that the current waves of infection in countries such as Brazil and India have occurred in populations where almost 50% had attained immunity. The spread is caused by new variants, something that can happen in other countries including Lebanon.”

Abiad noted that a combination of targeted vaccination, precautions, and the fact that around 40 percent of the populations have been infected “may explain the decline in deaths, but is too small to explain the drop in daily new cases.”